One More Present
by Marauder-In-Disguise
Summary: On his birthday, Teddy Lupin gets a present from the last person he would have expected...


"Make a wish Teddy!" squealed Lily Potter as she leapt up and down next to him.

"Alright Lil, give me a minute to think!" Teddy laughed, putting out one arm to calm down the excited seven year old, "OK. I've got one."

"Don't tell us Teddy," said Albus very seriously, "Or Mum says it won't come true."

As he blew out the candles on his seventeenth birthday cake, Teddy Lupin looked at the people surrounding him. There was his elderly grandmother, who had raised him from a baby, his godfather Harry and his family as well as other members of the Weasley clan and some of his friends from Hogwarts. He loved all these people dearly, but he couldn't help but feel the familiar ache as he remembered that his parents weren't here to see this. Of course, Teddy had never known them but he knew all about them and he had always felt their absence. He made the same wish on his candles that he had made every birthday for as long as he could remember, knowing that it wouldn't-it couldn't- ever come true.

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Later that night, when the majority of people had gone home or to bed, Teddy sat up with his godfather, having one of their frequent chats. These were some of Teddy's favourite times – he loved Harry as he imagined one would love their father – and the man was never short of advice, stories or jokes. It was from Harry that he had learned the most about his father, his grandmother of course being the expert on his mother. Tonight, Teddy knew that he was being quieter than usual but he was suddenly, sharply feeling the fact that his parents hadn't watched him blow out the candles on seventeen birthday cakes. He swirled his whisky in his glass and let out an involuntary sigh.

"What's up, Ted?"

"Oh? Nothing, just a bit tired I think."

"Teddy," said his godfather severely, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to get away with it.

"I just miss them."

"I see."

"It's stupid. I didn't even know them but..."

"It hurts."

Teddy nodded slowly, "Yeah."

"I know how you feel Ted. And I won't lie to you – I still feel like it sometimes. It won't ever go away, but you will learn to deal with it."

"Yeah."

He was so busy staring at his glass that Teddy didn't notice Harry pull something out of his pocket and unfold it.

"Ted?'

"Mmm?"

"I actually have one more present for you. I've had it a while but if you don't want it, I understand."

Teddy sat up, his hair changing involuntarily from the same shiny brown as his father's to a bright purple, which always happened when he was curious or excited.

Harry took a deep breath and handed Teddy an envelope.

"Whose handwriting is this?"

"Your father's."

"What?"

Harry leaned forwards and made Teddy focus on his face.

"When we cleared out your parent's things, we came across two letters. One was for me. It instructed me to keep your letter until you were seventeen when I had to give it to you. I'm giving it to you now."

"But-but how did he-?"

"I think you'd be better off reading it for yourself. Do you want me to go?"

"No. Can you stay-please?"

"Of course," said Harry, standing to pour himself another glass of whisky to give his godson some space.

With trembling hands, Teddy tore open the envelope and took out the sheaves of parchment inside. All were covered with the same neat handwriting, apart from the last one on which there was a drawing and a photograph as well. He unfolded the paper and began to read.

_To my dear son Teddy,_

_As little as I want to think about it, I have had the most horrible sinking feeling recently, a feeling that tells me I may not be around to watch you grow up. I haven't told your mother – I hate to worry her – but I have felt the need to sit down tonight and write this letter to you. I will hide it among my things and hopefully be the only one to ever know where it is. If my hunch is correct, however, I hope that someone has found this amongst my things and handed it to you. __The other letter is addressed generically but I hope that it is your godfather who found it, if you are reading this._

_So, if the worst has happened you, my boy, are now sevente__en years old and a man. I hope that life has been treating you well and that you are making the most of every opportunity. As I'm writing now, the forces of evil and darkness are closing in around us and once upon a time I may have given up. But now that I have you and your mother, I am going to fight until I have nothing left to give. I don't want to make you feel guilty but I hope that if I did die for this cause, that you are making the most of your schooling and your life. _

_I don't know how much you know about my life but I would like to tell you some things too because people generally speak well of the dead and I am prepared to tell you that I have made some mistakes in my life. Your godfather is the son of one of my best friends, but I suspect that you know all about the days of the Marauders and the things we used to get up to. What I think you probably are unaware of is that after Hogwarts and after James and Lily died, I went a bit – off the rails. My parents died when I was eighteen and I was so devastated after my friends died, when I was twenty, that it was only the support of Albus Dumbledore that saved me at all. He gave me undercover work and gave me a purpose. I think I owe him my life. I will tell you some of the things I did involving your mother, if you promise not to judge me. Your mother always maintains that she loved me for years – I don't know how true that is but after all the years of being told that I was worthless, a half breed, I didn't dare let your mother near me. I felt like she was so much better than me. It was only after the death of Albus Dumbledore, my friend and mentor and I needed your mother so much that I realised how much I loved her. Our married life has not been perfect – my fault, may I add – but, son, never think that I didn't love her. I always loved her even though I was scared and stupid. Just before you were born, I contemplated running away, like I always did. I would have done, if it had not been for your godfather spelling out to me that I was a coward if I ran. That is why he is your godfather – I owe the happiest months of my marriage and my time with you to him. Please don't judge me on this, Teddy. I was so afraid of loving and losing again. I thought after James, Lily and Sirius that I would never love anything again. _

_And now to the other people who I hope are in your life. I hope that your mother is still with you – I never met a woman more perfect than Nymphadora Tonks. I hope that if I died and she lived that she didn't suffer too much for me. Tell her I love her and that I always will. Listen to your godfather and always take his advice. If I can't be a father to you, I would nominate him as the second best thing. I can't say who came out of this terror alive so all I will say is that I pray you know the Weasleys, dear Hagrid, the inspirational Minerva McGonagall and so many other people who have touched my life in a good way. Good people are hard to come by in the world I'm in now. _

_I am including in this envelope a drawing that your mother did of you when you were just a few days old. She is such a talented artist and I love this picture. I think you should have it. I also include the most recent photograph of the three of us together. There are many photos which you may have seen but this is the one that I keep in my wallet, next to my heart. _

_So now I will go because I have started to upset myself. As I read this back, I find myself hoping futilely that you will never look at this letter. Hopefully, I will live to see you as a toddler, a boy, a man, and I will die a natural death with this letter quietly rotting away. But something big is happening, Teddy, I can feel it, and I wanted to be prepared should the worst happen. I hope that this letter hasn't upset you too much and that you have learnt something about me, your mother and the people we love and cherish._

_So goodbye, my son. Whatever happens, I know that you will make me proud. __I love you so much and I want to make sure that you know that._

_Here's hoping for the future_

_Your ever doting father_

With trembling hands and tears so thick he could hardly see, Teddy looked at the drawing and the photograph. The little figure of his father looked up with a crease of concern on his brow. The drawing was beautiful, quite breathtaking. Harry, who had sat down with his glass after a while took the letter from his godson's grasp and, with a comforting hand on one arm, quickly read it through.

"Oh, Ted," he whispered when he was done, "Which bit made you cry?"

"No, none of it. It's just that-that..."

"What?"

"I can hear his voice."

"Oh I see."

"I was always trying to imagine what they were like," Teddy said, no longer crying but sniffing, "And I never could. But now I know what he sounds like when he writes, I can hear his voice."

"I didn't know about this, Ted, until I found it. I wanted to tell you but the instructions were very precise."

"It's OK," said Teddy smiling, "I have a letter from my dad. My dad."

"I'm glad you're happy Ted."

"Did he always have, like, weird intuition?"

"I don't know. I always felt like he knew things we didn't but I think that he was just a bit scared when he wrote this. We didn't know what was going to happen but he was the sort of person who would be so terrified that you would grow up feeling like no one cared for you. He didn't have an easy life at all."

"Why?"

"People weren't as accepting of werewolves when I was younger as they are now and it was even worse before I was born. In fact, it was your father and the role he played which came into the public eye when he died that publicized werewolves for the better. You know the whole fuss about the Order that was made after Voldemort died? Many people couldn't believe that a werewolf could behave the way your father did. He helped a lot of people in his death. You should be very proud of him."

"I am. I always was, it was just that..."

"You weren't sure if what I was telling you was true."

"Yeah."

"I understand. It was hard for me to come to terms with some of the worst stuff that my dad did when he was young, after hearing so many good things about him. But we just have to take those things and embrace them, because they make up what sort of person they were. Everyone has good and bad in them. It's what they choose to do in the end that makes them who they were. You and I did stupid stuff when we were younger. You are still allowed to do stupid stuff," he grinned, "Within reason."

"Thanks Harry."

"For what?"

"For being there for me. And for giving me the best present I've ever had," he said, waving the letter and the drawing.

"No worries, Ted," he said, giving his godson a hug, "But the present is from your father, not from me. I was just the deliverer."

"He was a good man, wasn't he Harry?"

"The very best, Ted, the very best."


End file.
